


Starry Eyed

by talefeathers



Category: Romeo And Juliet - All Media Types, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Genre: Bittersweet, Brother Feels, Brothers, Cute, Foreshadowing, Gen, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6999856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talefeathers/pseuds/talefeathers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valentine has always been in love with the night sky.  One day, Mercutio asks him why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starry Eyed

Mercutio had first noticed the way his little brother stared at the night sky when he was still very little. One of his clearest childhood memories was an image of Valentine, still just a toddler, lying in his bed and staring up out of the window with an expression that could only be described as awe. With this in mind, Mercutio had shown him how to find Orion and the Big Dipper, had explained to him what constellations were and how there were tons and tons of them. All the while Valentine had worn that same slack-jawed, reverent expression on his tiny, wide-eyed face.

Now, years later, Valentine’s knowledge of the night sky far surpassed Mercutio’s own; he could point you to each visible constellation on a given night with ease, and he knew the time of year that was best for viewing each one. As Mercutio lay beside him on the roof on cool spring nights like tonight, Valentine would indicate a patch of sky, draw his attention to a certain cluster of lights, and then tell him the myth that the ancient Greeks or the Native Americans had associated with it.

“Why stars?” Mercutio asked once his brother had finished telling him the story of the brothers that made up the constellation Gemini, and how Pollux, who had been fathered by Zeus, gave up half his immortality so that he and his mortal twin, Castor, could remain together forever in the night sky.

Valentine pulled his eyes away from the glittering sky so that he could give his brother a questioning look.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Like, what is it about them? Why do you love them so much? Have you ever thought about it?”

Valentine shrugged, turning his eyes upward again and smiling a little.

“They’re beautiful,” he said simply. “And they’ve all got stories to tell. And…”

He hesitated for a moment, his smile fading.

“And they’re constant,” he said. “They’re always there.”

Mercutio felt something twinge in his chest. He forgot sometimes that their parents had been killed just as Valentine was really getting to know them. He forgot that most of Valentine’s life had been spent in foster homes, always being shuffled to a new family just as he was getting used to the one they were with. Mercutio had known a sense of permanence in his early years that Valentine had completely missed out on. It made sense that Valentine would look as far as the stars for some stability, even now that they had been adopted for good.

“Hey,” Mercutio said, giving Valentine’s arm a nudge. Valentine looked back at him. “You know what else is always gonna be here?”

Valentine’s mouth twisted as he tried not to smile, turning away again.

Mercutio nudged him again, harder this time. Elbowed him, really.

“Ow!” Valentine yelped, laughing.

“It’s me,” Mercutio said. “The answer is me, you little shit. Come on, you knew that one.”

“Okay, okay,” Valentine said, elbowing Mercutio back. “I get it. I’ll see that you’re nominated for Brother of the Year.”

Mercutio laughed. Then he looked up at the stars again, pinpricks of light in a deep velvet blanket.

“Seriously, though,” he said.

“I know,” Valentine said.

“Always,” he said.

Valentine took Mercutio’s hand then, something he hadn’t done since he was that tiny, wide-eyed toddler. He gave it a quick squeeze before letting it go again.

“I know,” Valentine said.


End file.
